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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fork · calf · wound · swing · arm · kid · wind · fan

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. swing — to play on
  12. wind — moving air
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. swing — in golf
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — in a road
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. swing — music
  24. fan — a supporter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com